A second person in the U.S. has been infected with bird flu linked to dairy cows, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday.
The individual, a farmworker who had regular exposure to infected animals, experienced mild symptoms and recovered, the department said.
“The current health risk to the general public remains low,” Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Michigan’s chief medical officer, said in a statement. Press release. “We have not seen signs of sustained human-to-human transmission at this time. This is exactly how public health should work, in the early detection and monitoring of new and emerging diseases.”
O Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development confirmed additional cases in cows this week, bringing the total in that state to 19 herds as of Wednesday.
Nationally, at least 51 herds in nine states were affected, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In addition to herds in Michigan, dairy cattle in Colorado, Kansas, Idaho, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas have also tested positive for bird flu.
Federal health officials are expected to hold a news conference on the matter late Wednesday afternoon.
On Tuesday, CDC Principal Deputy Director Dr. Nirav Shah asked state and local health officials in a plea to continue monitoring the flu “at increased levels” through the summer, even though the typical flu season flu is over and testing for the virus drops to a minimum this time of year.
Bird flu, also known as H5N1, is a type of influenza A virus.
Shah said the CDC has recommended that states “increase the number of positive influenza A virus specimens submitted for subtyping to help detect even rare cases of human infection with the H5N1 virus in the community,” the agency said in a press release on Tuesday. Tuesday.
Since the H5N1 virus was first identified in 1997, there have been just over 900 documented cases in humans globally. More than 50% of these patients died, According to the CDC. But this death rate may be overestimated because cases can also be mild and possibly go unnoticed.
In March, a dairy worker in Texas was diagnosed with bird flu. It was the first documented case of influenza transmission from a cow to a human. The only indication that the man was ill was that he developed conjunctivitis, or conjunctivitis. He did not experience any of the typical flu symptoms, such as fever, coughing and sneezing, and later recovered.
This is the third case overall in the United States. In 2022, an inmate in Colorado was diagnosed with the virus. The man worked on a commercial farm, slaughtering birds suspected of being infected. His only symptom was fatigue and he recovered with Tamiflu.
There is no evidence at this time that H5N1 is spreading from person to person. None of the people living on the Texas dairy got sick.
O The CDC recommends that anyone in contact with dairy cattle wear protective equipment, including safety glasses, waterproof aprons and boots that can be sanitized.
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